


Livin' On the Edge

by GuiltyRed



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, dark situation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-27
Updated: 2009-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyRed/pseuds/GuiltyRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ruins of Shinra HQ draw the broken like moths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Livin' On the Edge

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Livin' On the Edge  
> **Author/Artist:** GuiltyRed  
> **Rating:** PG13  
> **Warnings:** dark situation  
> **Word count:** 500  
> **Summary:** The ruins of Shinra HQ draw the broken like moths.  
> **Prompt:** Reno/Rude: Trust - standing on the edge of a sheer drop.**  
> **

"Do you trust me?"

He asks me this, and I want to scream. Long, lean legs carry him a step closer to the edge as he backs away from me, arms spread wide as though he plans to turn and dive into the open air beyond. "Get away from the edge, Reno."

His eyes are wild as he takes another backward step. "You don't trust me, do you?"

What the hell am I supposed to say? If I say yes, will he jump? If I say no, will he jump? Either way, the thought of losing the only other person I could ever really talk to – the only person I looked forward to seeing every damnable day – tears through me like shrapnel.

So, speechless, I follow him. Step by step, slow and careful, until we are both standing inches from disaster.

Cool hands reach for my shoulders, but do not grab. Instead, they linger, trailing over muscles hidden beneath layers of fabric. Reno unfastens my jacket and slides it down until it pins my arms, forcing me to remove it and risk those moments of not being able to catch him should he fall.

Hot blue eyes watch my every move.

"Come away from there, crazy man," I murmur, offering him a hand but not insisting yet. "Let's get some coffee."

Reno smiles that lopsided smile that says we're clearly not on the same page. "First, I want to know if you trust me, Rude." He strips off his own shirt, the jacket abandoned before he'd left the elevator. With a casual turn and flick of his wrist, the white linen garment flies over the edge like a bird riding the thermals.

"Trust you how, partner?"

His lip twitches, slight enough that anyone else might have missed it. "Trust me to know what's best for me." His weight shifts and he crouches down on his toes, heels hanging over the precipice. He looks up at me with eyes full of pain and regret. "Trust me to know when."

I could haul him to safety. I could back away and make him come to me if he wanted to keep talking. Or, I could be the man he'd come to know and, hopefully, care for. Steeling myself with a deep, slow breath, I take a half-step closer. "I do trust you to know. And I trust it's not now. I need you, Reno. You can't begin to know how much."

Reno slowly stands, his weight supported on the balls of his feet. His mouth trembles, and it's several moments before he speaks. He swallows, then whispers, "You need me, as a Turk? Or as a friend? Because, the first one ain't much incentive anymore."

Carefully, so as not to spook him, I fold my arms around him and hold him close; if he throws his weight backward now, we both go. "As my partner. Is that good enough?"

As his lips press softly against mine, Reno picks his direction and lunges.


End file.
